Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Thakkali (Tomato) Rasam

Typically the rasam that I grew up with and was very fond of - my paati's rasam, was one that had everything... garlic, pepper, tomatoes, toor dhal etc. so only later in life did I come to realize that there were rasams that celebrated each ingredient with a special emphasis e.g. Tomato rasam, poondu (garlic) rasam, milagu (pepper) rasam etc.

When I first tasted this thakkali rasam made by Vijaya akka several years ago, i was so enamoured by it that I had to get the recipe from her. The only variation is that she strains the tomato juice after grinding it but I typically skip that step - but that's a personal preference. This rasam doesn't have any dhal or tamarind water and is delightfully delicious.

Method:1) Cook tomatoes in about a cup of boiling water for about 5 to 6 minutes. Allow to cool, peel and grind in a mixie to a juice. You could strain this if you prefer - i don't. Mix the juice and the boiled water along with turmeric and salt and keep aside.

2) Heat oil + ghee in a pan and season with mustard, jeera, asafoetida (hing), curry leaves, and a broked dried red chilli. When the mustard splutters, add the ground paste and fry for a few minutes.

3) Add the tomato juice and allow to cook on a medium flame until it begins to form a layer of froth on the top and just begins to boil. Don't let this boil for anything more than a minute.

4) Switch off the stove, sprinkle the coriander leaves and cover the pot for atleast 5 minutes or so for the flavours to mingle. Delicious rasam is now ready to drink as is or with rice.

This is very similar to how I make my rasam too except that there's no grinding/mixer involved in mine.You are right- there are so many different kinds of rasam that I too was not familiar with. Have u tried/heard of pineapple rasam? I saw one recently on one of the blogs and tried it- it was good, but I wonder why it was called a rasam!

wow...tomato rasam is yummy and luscious..when i was in india my mother used to do it often..uphere in U.S. it's very hard to find ingredients and indian food products anyway i have found a great resource www.myethnicworld.com...if any one feels discomfort of finding ingredients u can find all the ingredients at one place.

Firstly, great blog! I make your dishes regularly for my family. I made this rasam today. My husband said it's the best rasam he's ever tasted!! and I'm a very mediocre cook. Do share more of your akka's recipes with us. :)

Anjali, thank you so much for your feedback. Am so glad to hear that you enjoyed this rasam since this is my favorite too. I have written down a few recipes from her and will be sure to blog them as and when i find time. Thanks once again for trying out other dishes too from my blog :)